Ms Essex, who reportedly decided to apply for a role on the show herself, said she was “praying” to leave the island “holding hands with the person I love the most”.
Tuesday 4 June 2024 00:46, UK
Reality TV star Joey Essex has entered the Love Island villa as the show's first celebrity contestant.
The 33-year-old The only way is Essexsaid she's on the show because she's “totally single right now” and hopes to leave the island “holding hands with the love of my life.”
of ITV The dating series returns on Monday, introducing even more contestants to a villa on the Spanish island of Mallorca, with hosts Maya Jama She appeared wearing a white dress.
Jama told the contestants: “It's good to see you all settled in. As you know, being on Love Island you always have to expect the unexpected.”
“So please welcome Joey.”
The TV personality said he was the “King of Essex” and wanted to find his “Queen.”
ITV said he was the show's “first celebrity contestant”.
According to The Sun, Mr Essex chose to apply to appear on the show himself, before ITV bosses tried desperately to keep his involvement a secret.
Speaking exclusively to the newspaper before boarding the plane to the villa, Essex said: “I felt like Joey Bond. I was like 'The name's Essex, Joey Essex'. It's been like a military operation – not just the journey itself, but going through the application process and getting to this point… I'm totally single at the moment so I'm just praying to come out of the villa holding hands with the love of my life. That's my main goal and all I care about.”
After appearing on The Only Way Is Essex from 2011 to 2013, Essex went on to appear on similar shows including I'm A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here!, Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins, Celebrity MasterChef, Celebs Go Dating and Dancing On Ice.
Before Essex appeared on Love Island, Jama told the fellow contestants: “First impressions matter, so I'd like both boys and girls to rate each other in order of who they think is most relationship-like and who is least relationship-like.”
Jama then revealed that the rankings would mean who they would be paired with.
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The couples included mental health nurse Mimiy Ngulube, 24, from Portsmouth, and recruitment manager Mumbia Jabbal, 30, from Surbiton, as well as accounts manager Nicole Samuel, 24, from Aberdare, and salesman Sean Stone, 24, from Hertford.
The other partners were Samantha Kenny, 26, a make-up artist from Liverpool; Sam Taylor, 23, a hairstylist from Chesterfield; Harriet Blackmore, 24, a dancer and personal shopper from Brighton; Ciaran Davies, 21, a surveyor from Pencoed, South Wales; Jess White, 25, a retail manager from Stockport; and Ronnie Vint, 27, a semi-professional footballer from London.
Ayo Odukoya, 25, a model from Canning Town, and Patsy Field, 29, an office worker from Orpington, were also taken out.
Patsy, who was born with Erb's palsy – a condition that causes paralysis in the arms due to damage to the upper group of major nerves in the arm during a difficult birth – revealed that she shares a bed with her mother.
She explained that her mother had no place to stay other than the same room.
Elsewhere in the episode, Ciarán admitted that when he was 18, he was “dating” women over 40.
Love Island airs on Tuesdays at 9pm on ITV2 and ITVX.
